Abstract: Functionality is described for forming a summary representation of a video item to help a user decide whether to obtain a full version of the video item. The functionality operates by: (a) receiving a video item; (b) dividing the video item into a plurality of segments; (c) extracting at least one key frame from each of the plurality of segments to form a plurality of key frames; and (d) organizing the video segments into one or more groups corresponding to one or more respective scenes based on the plurality of key frames, to thereby form the representation of the video item. The functionality can be used to communicate search results to a user, to provide a sample of the video item in a message, etc.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for providing a chunking utility that supports robust natural language processing. A corpus is chunked in accordance with a draft chunking specification. Chunk inconsistencies in the corpus are automatically flagged for resolution, and a chunking utility is provided in which at least some of the flagged inconsistencies are resolved. The chunking utility provides a single, consistent global chunking standard, ensuring compatibility among various applications. The chunking utility is particularly advantageous for non-alphabetic languages, such as Chinese.

Abstract: Functionality is described for forming a summary representation of a video item to help a user decide whether to obtain a full version of the video item. The functionality operates by: (a) receiving a video item; (b) dividing the video item into a plurality of segments; (c) extracting at least one key frame from each of the plurality of segments to form a plurality of key frames; and (d) organizing the video segments into one or more groups corresponding to one or more respective scenes based on the plurality of key frames, to thereby form the representation of the video item. The functionality can be used to communicate search results to a user, to provide a sample of the video item in a message, etc.

Abstract: A new way of providing search results that include audio/video thumbnails for searches of audio and video content is disclosed. An audio/video thumbnail includes one or more audio/video segments retrieved from within the content of audio/video files selected as relevant to a search or other user input. For an audio/video thumbnail of more than one segment, the audio/video segments from an individual audio/video file responsive to the search are concatenated into a multi-segment audio/video thumbnail. The audio/video segments provide enough information to be indicative of the nature of the audio/video file from which each of the audio/video thumbnails is retrieved, while also fast enough that a user can scan through a series of audio/video thumbnails relatively quickly.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for providing a chunking utility that supports robust natural language processing. A corpus is chunked in accordance with a draft chunking specification. Chunk inconsistencies in the corpus are automatically flagged for resolution, and a chunking utility is provided in which at least some of the flagged inconsistencies are resolved. The chunking utility provides a single, consistent global chunking standard, ensuring compatibility among various applications. The chunking utility is particularly advantageous for non-alphabetic languages, such as Chinese.